Patient Spotlight: Filippo Martone, President of Friends Against Sarcoidosis Italy

Introduction

To mark the opening of registration for the 2023 ERS International Congress, which will be hosted both in Milan, Italy and online, this month’s patient spotlight is on Filippo Martone. Filippo has been living with sarcoidosis for 30 years and is president of Friends Against Sarcoidosis Italy. He is passionate about patient advocacy and involvement, particularly when it comes to Congress.

Tell us about yourself and your role in patient advocacy

I am a dentist and have been suffering from sarcoidosis for 30 years. I am the president of the Italian national association that brings together people like me, their families and the doctors who treat it. My association, through me, requested the establishment of and participated in the work of the ERS task force on guidelines for the treatment of the disease. ELF has been a key organisational link and has enabled us to gradually involve more and more sister associations from other countries.

What are you most looking forward to about attending this year’s ERS Congress?

In Milan, I expect to meet again with friends from other sister associations, but also colleagues from associations related to other diseases and fellow doctors. Building new challenging projects and perceiving new tools to realise them are normal expectations for those attending an ERS congress.

My advice to those thinking of attending is of course to participate with enthusiasm, with the right curiosity and desire to learn and grow in awareness of what we can do for ourselves and for people like us.

Find out more about the ERS International Congress happening 9–13 September 2023 in Milan, Italy:

https://europeanlung.org/en/get-involved/events/ers-congress-2023/